The Christmas Groom

by Taylor Hart

  But come hell or high water, Damon was going in there. Time lost all meaning. He barged through the burning doors, sucking air from his tank and trying to see her, trying to feel her. He keyed his radio. “Trev, where is she?”

  “I … part of the wall has fallen up here, I can’t get her out.”

  Climbing the stairs quickly, he rushed straight to where he’d sent Trevor. The smoke was awful, and he could barely see through it. The hungry flames snapped at him as he made his way to Trev who was trying to figure out how to get her free. Springing into action, he rushed to the beam that had fallen, using all his force to push it off, but it wouldn’t budge.

  On the radio, he heard the battalion chief. “Freestone, what are you doing? Get your butt out here.”

  He ignored it, struggling to find a way to free Jamie.

  The battalion chief ordered everyone to abandon the building then started calling out his crew one by one, telling them to get out. Air horns blared long blasts of four tones, the symbol to evacuate. The fire had burned long enough that either this thing would flashover soon or the whole building might come down.

  Even though Damon could feel the blow was coming, he couldn’t leave yet. He scrambled to get another board and make a lever to push the beam.

  Trev stayed by his side without asking and helped him push the lever.

  “Freestone! Clark!” The battalion chief barked, calling the two of them.

  Damon pointed at Trev. “Get out!”

  Trev shook his head. “I’m staying with you, Cap.”

  The battalion chief’s voice pierced the radio. “Then you are both fools that are going to lose your jobs.”

  They pushed and levered the wood until Jamie’s leg came loose. Damon picked her up and carried her out of the apartment, down the stairs and into the pandemonium outside.

  The building had the decency to not flash until both he and Trev were out. Flames tumbled over their heads and the pressure forced Damon down to his knees. He climbed to his feet and ran toward the medics.

  As he laid her body on the stretcher, ambo crews and firefighters swarmed them, helping them take off their equipment. Damon sucked in the cool Boston night air.

  The battalion chief walked over with anger in his eyes and stared at him. “Freestone, you made the wrong call.”

  All Damon was concerned with at the moment was making sure Jamie was okay. He saw them intubating her.

  “Is she breathing?” he asked Craig, the main paramedic.

  When Craig didn’t answer, he began investigating the equipment they were using, and then the other medic pulled out an AED and shocked her chest.

  “Breathe.” He commanded her, getting on his knees and feeling emotion bubble up in his throat. Emotion he never let out anywhere besides a punch to the face of his sparring partner at the gym in the morning.

  His battalion chief was next to him, his hand on his shoulder, as Damon watched the crew frantically try to get a pulse, get all the smoke out of her so she could breathe.

  Shedding his turnouts, he hopped into the ambo with them. The medics worked efficiently, doing everything they could, but in the short ride to the hospital, he watched her unresponsive lips go blue. He watched her die.

  When they pulled the stretcher out and ran her into the hospital, he ran with them down the hall, listening to the paramedics give their report to the doctors.

  Can’t find a pulse, too much smoke in her lungs, gave her albuterol, cortisone, a plethora of other drugs.

  His mind couldn’t decipher all of it. In truth, it was the first time he didn’t feel absolutely involved in the scene, but more like a bystander watching it all unfold.

  As he watched them cover her with a sheet, he knew it was his fault. She’d died because he’d sent her in too soon.

  He wished it had been him instead.

  Chapter 2

  As Samantha stood at the cool water’s edge atop the cliffs looking over Park City Lake, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

  Well, of course she would jump. All through law school she’d been teased for her adrenaline junky ways. Even though she was a type A personality and a complete goody two-shoes, as her sister Zoey obnoxiously called her, her one dark, guilty pleasure was doing semi-crazy stunts.

  To her, they didn’t seem all that crazy. She grinned. Okay, yeah they did. Last year, when she’d graduated from law school, she and Zoey had jumped out of an airplane, skydiving as a celebration. Whether celebrating or not, Sam loved the thrill of the outdoors. The climbs, pushing your body to its max. She didn’t run to stay fit, though that was a major perk. She ran to push herself.

  She’d heard about the cliffs on this lake. That’s why she’d parked at the bottom today after work and come here.

  New to Park City, she quickly found she loved the ambiance of the town. All of it was one big running trail, in her book. Though it was spring, she couldn’t wait for winter. Downhill skiing was gonna kill it.

  It hadn’t been her choice to move here from Denver, but what could she say? Law school wasn’t cheap, and it didn’t pay her jack crap to take a stupid job around Denver.

  This job with a private practice in Park City had sounded perfect. She would still get to do her passion, family law, but the firm had a bunch of departments. Unfortunately, for right now, she was stuck in real estate. Yawn. The head honcho, Luke, had a bunch of holdings he was subdividing and needed her help to run the projects with the developers and make sure all the contracts were in place.

  Snore.

  He promised eventually she could do family law; he just needed someone more as a project manager for the moment.

  He’d thrown in living accommodations in the form of an old cabin with the perfect trails to run, so all of her income could go to paying her loans or helping out Zoey.

  Her other sister, Janet, had told her not to help Zoey, but Janet was a brat, so Sam tried really hard to avoid any texts and calls from her at all costs.

  Sometimes the best kinds of family were the ones who weren’t there.

  Shedding all her clothes except the one-piece red swimsuit, she put her Tevas in place. If she didn’t have her Tevas, climbing back up here would be painful.

  Then she went right to the edge and stared down at the clear water. She’d done her research the night before. This was the perfect place to jump. Most of the people on the websites had encouraged diving. The side of the cliff was craggy, and the water looked biting. Sam knew it would be cold. Not freezing, but it was only June, and mountain water in June was anything but warm.

  She imagined a perfect dive and prepared herself. Colorado had been filled with lots of opportunities for outdoorsy stuff, but she hadn’t lived right next to them. She’d had to take extra time to drive up to the mountains. Here, she was smack in the middle of it all. It was one of the reasons she’d taken the job.

  Truthfully, the only thing she minded about being away from Colorado was being away from Zoey. “Be safe, my sister.” She whispered, putting out her arms and getting ready to jump.

  “Stop!” Someone called from behind her.

  The intensity of the voice took her off balance, which wasn’t optimal since she was standing on the edge of a cliff. She tried to look back, but the momentum from leaning forward carried her over. So, instead of a beautiful dive, she found herself flailing though the air and hitting the water like some teenager out on a date with their friends just messing around and cliff jumping.

  After the painful impact with the water, she felt simultaneously irritated with the guy and concerned. Was he hurt? Did he need help? Regretfully, she emerged from the cold, clear water and looked up. He stood at the top, staring down at her.

  “What?” She shouted.

  “That was stupid.” He boomed out the words.

  She wanted to give him a gesture, but she didn’t.

  She began to swim for the other side of the shore, ignoring the man at the top.

  Suddenly, a huge splash came next to her
, and she watched as the man popped up out of the water.

  Truth be told, he was handsome. His dark hair was the perfect length. He had chiseled features, with complimentary eyebrows and piercing blue eyes. At that exact moment, they were mad eyes. “What were you doing?”

  Instantly put off, she swam harder for the beach. “I don’t know who you are, but I am none of your business.” Just then, her foot got caught. Not just caught, it felt like something was pulling her shoe off as she stepped on it. “Ah!” She hesitated and stopped, treading water. Or trying to. “What the—?” A rock or something sharp had hooked her shoe, and now she couldn’t get free. Realizing this, she unvelcroed the Teva.

  “What?” He was coming to her side.

  More and more irritation swept through her.

  “Nothing,” she said as she ripped the shoe completely off and freed her foot. The effort it took put her off balance, and she fell back into the water. After getting back up, she swam for the beach, annoyed the guy had made her screw up what would have been a perfectly executed dive.

  Somehow, when she pulled up at the rocky beach, he was already there.

  His chest was bare, and all of his perfectly defined muscles were on display. He looked like a bodybuilder. He was also tall. She figured he had to be six foot two. His whole body glistened with water, and she couldn’t deny the feelings stirring inside of her.

  She stood and then kneeled down to put on her Teva. “Why don’t you tell me why you messed up my dive?”

  He looked incredulous and pointed to the cliff above them. “Do you know what they call that cliff?”

  Her heart raced. “Park Rock Cliffs.” She answered.

  A derisive laugh came out of him, and he smoothed a hand through his hair. “Uh, yeah, but do you know what the locals call it?”

  She didn’t even want to still be speaking to him, but now she had to know. “No.”

  “Satan’s cliffs.” His face screwed into a rude face. “There are a couple deaths there every year.” He broke the connection and stepped farther up onto the beach. “I think you should do some research because jumping off those cliffs will eventually get you killed.” He stopped then looked back disdainfully. “Especially when you’re gearing up for a headfirst dive. Stupid.”

  It was one thing that he may be a concerned citizen watching out for her. It was a totally different matter that he thought he could be all superior and tell her what do to. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but next time, let the devil just take me, okay? Because if you didn’t notice, I didn’t need any help.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Looking totally put out, the guy trudged quickly out of the water.

  She tried to follow, but slicing pain went through the bottom of her foot. “Ouch!” She yanked her foot out of the water and held it up, seeing a medium-sized piece of glass stuck in the arch of her foot. Blood oozed around the wound. “Dang it.”

  Suddenly, he was there. Without asking, he picked her up, and if she had been in a romantic mood, she would have noticed it wasn’t hard for him to pick her up. In fact, it seemed like she weighed nothing in his arms. “Nice one.” He looked at the blood.

  “My shoe got stuck, and I had to take it off to get loose.”

  He didn’t say a word, just got to the beach where it was clear and put her down, taking her foot into his hands.

  Again, he didn’t ask for her permission. She didn’t look, just flinched as he worked. Within what felt like only a few seconds, she felt a sharp pain as if something bit her hard. “Oh my gosh.”

  Holding up a long piece of glass with blood on it, he quickly discarded it and then looked at the bottom of her foot. “When was the last time you had a tetanus booster?”

  She frowned, thinking about the needle she’d stepped on the last time she’d searched for her sister under that darn druggie bridge in Denver. “Surprisingly, I had one last week.”

  Grimacing, he held her foot into the air, surveying it like he was a doctor. She wondered if he was a doctor, given the take-charge way he had about him. Reluctantly, she acknowledged the fact that he would be the hottest doctor she’d ever met. Then she frowned as she thought about how she was going to walk back to her car.

  Seeming to read her thoughts, he looked at her. “Where are you parked?”

  She shrugged. “At the bottom of the trail.”

  Making the decision before talking to her, he moved to her side. “I’m going to pick you up and carry you to your car, okay? But I’m going to go get my shoes on first.” He bolted away, and she watched him run at full speed up a path on the side of the mountain.

  She wanted to tell off the beautiful, take-charge man, who she absolutely didn’t like on the grounds that he was bossy, but realistically she was in no shape to walk to her car. She settled for quietly saying, “Okay.”

  He was back in just a few minutes and expertly scooped her up in his arms. “Put your arms around my neck.” He commanded.

  Then they were off. He moved with ease, strong enough to easily carry her up through the rocks. It wasn’t too steep on this side, and it didn’t seem that difficult for him. She smelled a light scent of cologne on his neck. Or was that aftershave? She didn’t know, and it had been so long since she’d been this close to a man. She didn’t know if she was getting lightheaded because of her foot or because of him. “My clothes and backpack …”

  He stopped at the top of the cliff and put her on a rock then ran over and collected her stuff.

  When he got back, he efficiently put her socks and shoes on her. As he laced her boots, he said, “I think the protection is good for your foot right now to get you home, but when you get home, you need to go to a doctor or you need to clean it thoroughly and use bandages and an antibiotic ointment. Keep it clean and dry for at least a couple of days.”

  It felt like he was a real doctor, and she was a little kid. Once again, the only thing she could do was say, “Okay.”

  She didn’t like feeling this vulnerable, but she couldn’t decide if she hated it either. There was a goodness about the man. He seemed to be in his mid to late twenties, obviously strong. A million questions went through her mind. What was he doing here? Was he local? What was his job?

  Picking her back up, he took off into a jog. Even with the addition of her backpack, his breathing didn’t really change. Luckily, it wasn’t that far to the bottom of the trail. Okay, it was a couple of miles, but she was pretty sure this guy could have carried her down and then back up and then down again and he still wouldn’t have been out of breath. Who was he?

  Holding tightly to him, she thought about how she hadn’t felt this cared for or protected in a long time. Probably since before her father died. She remembered herself on her father’s shoulders as they stood in the living room, her mother snapping a picture. She’d been small, only eight or nine, but she vividly remembered her mother’s smiling face and her father's booming laugh. She had loved feeling so tall, almost powerful with them there literally supporting her.

  Pain ripped through her chest, and she pushed away all thoughts of the car wreck, all thoughts of her littlest sister being dragged away from her in the middle of the night. That had been a long time ago, but it still haunted her dreams.

  Focusing on holding tightly to his neck, she felt him grip her closer as he ran faster and faster.

  Truly, she was in awe at his physical capacity to carry her. And since neither of them had a lot of clothes on, it felt … intimate.

  Once they reached the bottom of the mountain, she pointed in the direction of her car.

  When he got there, he asked, “Can you navigate this the rest of the way home?”

  She nodded and tried to get out of his grasp.

  He tightened his hold. “Seriously, I don’t mind following you and making sure you get home okay.”

  Okay, she was done being babied. “I’m fine.” She grunted and pushed hard away from him.

  His arms loosened, and he gently let her down onto her feet.

/>   As soon as she put pressure on that foot, she stumbled. Unable to believe how much it really did hurt, she cursed.

  “Are you okay?” He reached out to her. She got off balance trying to avoid him and landed flat on her bum.

  Irritation surged through her.

  He didn’t comment, just reached out a hand.

  She stayed on her bum letting out a slight laugh.

  He stood there with his hand out. “Why don’t you get up, and we’ll get you home.”

  “Why are you talking to me like that?”

  He looked confused.

  “Like you know best and like … this is all so typical for you.”

  Lifting his eyebrows, he let out a breath. “Why’d you jump off those cliffs?”

  “’Cause I wanted to.”

  “And do you always take such risks with your life?”

  Getting her angst back, she tried to stand. “Do you?”

  “What?” He looked floored.

  “If you didn’t notice, you jumped too.”

  “Oh.” He clearly dismissed the threat to his own life.

  “See, you did it too.”

  Then, before she knew what happened, the side of his lip tugged up, and it looked like he wanted to smile. Unfortunately, that one hint of humor vanished all too quickly.

  She wondered why her heart beat so rapidly and couldn’t decide if it was because of this stupid situation or this stupid guy. Deciding it just might be the stupid guy, she smiled.

  “What?” he asked and took a step closer to her. Their eyes met and butterflies pounded through her gut.

  “Nothing, I just … You’re handsome.” She froze. Had those words really come out of her mouth?

  The tone and look in his eyes got serious. Looking concerned, his big eyebrows dipped together. He flipped some keys out of his pocket. “C’mon. I’ll give you a ride home. You look pale.”

  “No.” She put her pack down, extracted the keys, and unlocked her Hyundai Elantra. She slipped her pack in the back, but she did feel weak, which wasn’t normal for her. “My blood sugar is probably just low. I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

  It was almost seven-thirty because she’d come straight after work, unable to do anything else except be out in nature. She tried to smile at him and put out of her mind the fact he was so handsome and he had literally come to her rescue. “I don’t like being the damsel in distress, but thank you.”